


Safe Again

by LibraryMage



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Autistic Character, Father-Daughter Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-04
Packaged: 2018-08-19 12:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8208221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: Sabine's nightmares never really went away.





	

Sabine woke, trying to stifle a shout.  She opened her eyes, her breath ragged and heavy as if she’d just run a hundred miles all at once.  As she stared up into the darkness, she heard a soft knock on her door.  She kicked off her blanket and rolled to the side, letting the feeling of the cold metal floor on her bare feet jolt her awake.

Her door gave a quiet _hiss_ as she opened it to find Kanan standing in the hallway.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Sorry,” she said, deliberately not answering his question.  “Did I wake you up?”

“No,” Kanan said.  “I couldn’t sleep anyway, and then I heard you, and I felt…”

He trailed off, but Sabine knew what he was going to say.  He’d felt her fear through the Force, probably without even trying.  Her face flushed with embarrassment and she was almost glad he couldn’t see her.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

Sabine sighed and walked back into her room, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“I don’t know,” she said.  “Not really.”

“You want to talk about it?” Kanan asked, taking a few steps into the room.

“Just bad dreams,” Sabine said, hugging her knees against her chest.  “You?”

“Same thing,” Kanan said, sitting down beside her.

“About Malachor?”

Kanan shook his head.  “Kaller,” he said.

“What happened on Kaller?” Sabine asked.

“It’s…it’s not important.”

“Seems pretty important.”

“It’s where my master died,” Kanan said quietly.

Sabine leaned her head against Kanan’s shoulder.

I’m sorry,” she said.  It was not even remotely enough, but she didn’t know what else to say.  The only scripts for this kind of thing were pretty much useless in her opinion.

Kanan put his arm around Sabine’s shoulders in an awkward half-hug.

“Look,” he said.  “I don’t know what happened to your family, or what happened at the academy.  And you don’t ever have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I'm always here for you.  You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“Think you can try and sleep again?” Kanan asked.

“I don’t know,” Sabine said.  She thought for a moment before saying “Yeah.  I guess I need to.”

Sabine lay down, her back to Kanan, facing the wall.  Sure, he couldn’t see her, but she still didn’t want to look him in the eye.  Even knowing he had the same problem she did, some small part of her was still mortified.

“Here,” he said, pulling the blanket over her.  He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.  "Things always look better in the morning."

As Kanan stood up to leave, Sabine gripped his hand tighter.

“Kanan?” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Can you stay until I fall asleep?”

“Sure,” he said.

Sabine pulled herself closer to the wall to make space for him.  Kanan lay down next to her, one arm draped protectively around her.

Finally, Sabine was able to close her eyes without her mind spiraling.  Just having Kanan at her back, holding her tightly against his chest was enough to start making her feel safe again.

“You’ll be okay, Sabine,” he whispered.

“I know,” she muttered.

The last thing she was conscious of before she fell asleep was the sound of her friend -- her _father’s_ \-- heartbeat.

* * *

 

Kanan woke the next morning to a sharp pain in his leg, courtesy of Sabine kicking him in her sleep.  He sat up and felt Sabine move, filling the space he’d vacated.

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“A little,” she said.

She took his hand and held it tightly in hers, just as she had the night before.

“Thanks, buir,” she said, her voice quiet and her words a little slurred.  Kanan couldn’t tell if she was fully awake as she spoke.  He reached out and brushed a lock of her hair away from her face.

“Any time, ad’ika.”

**Author's Note:**

> "buir" is the Mando'a word for "mother" or "father," and "ad'ika" means "little one/son/daughter" (Mando'a is a gender-neutral language, so both words are used regardless of gender)
> 
> special thanks to FoxGlade for the headcanon that Sabine kicks people in her sleep


End file.
